Wednesday, 28 March 2012

An embarrassment of salad

What is the collective noun for salad anyway? An embarrassment? A glut? A gluttony of salad? I'm continuing with Veg Plotting's 52 week salad challenge (and I'm still feeling smug!)

This sunny March loveliness has been enjoyed by the salad plants in my polytunnel as much as it has been enjoyed by me. The plants are simply basking and putting on leaf faster than we can eat it. I've taken to forcing gifting huge bags of salad leaves on to horrified grateful friends. I've thought of putting a sign at the bottom of the drive saying 'salad for sale', but then I thought 'salad for FREE' might be better. Finally I settled on 'HELP'!


This is a BIG salad!


Can you see where I picked it from?


So many leaves! Lovely land cress, leaf beet and chard.

I've become quite brutal in my picking, whole plants scythed off and the bigger leaves composted, but it only seems to encourage leaf production. One thing is clear: I HAVE to do this again next year.

In the meantime I've been planting seeds for salad futures; chervil, tomatoes, chilli peppers, salad onions, coriander, rocket, broccoli raab, radishes. I'm not sure when the winter salad plants are going to call it a day (they've been producing leaves since December) but I don't want to be caught on the hop when it does all come to an end. I've got some lovely baby tomato plants from Aldi - a mini plum type (no variety given) and my weeding of the bed for the onion sets revealed buried treasure in the form of potatoes (Charlotte) missed during last year's harvest. Today's lunch will be new potato salad and erm... salad!
Posted by Maggie Christie at 10:55 am
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7 comments:

  1. Kath28 March 2012 at 11:23

    That salad looks delish - I'm just wishing I lived closer, so I could take some off your hands! And new potato salad is one of my favourite things. Hmm. I may have to dig a veg patch for the first time ever...

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  2. Mac n' Janet28 March 2012 at 14:46

    I think I'm about half rabbit anyway, and if I ended up in your polytunnel I'd think I'd died and gone to heaven. We have salad every day!

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  3. Zoë28 March 2012 at 21:00

    it all looks very delish - miles and miles ahead of me - so I am buying salads as we are eating a lot of it as neither of us feels like heavy meals in this weather.

    One of my faves is lambs lettuce, that and pea shoots - yum!

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  4. Rob-bear29 March 2012 at 03:33

    All looks excellent. You've got lots, not only for yourselves, but for a (growing) family of rabbits. I hope the polytunnel is well protected — from rabbits and lambs.

    We tried to grow greens on our apartment balcony last year The wind was so brutal six floors up that we didn't get to eat much of what we attempted to produce. We'll not try that futile exercise again this year.

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  5. rachel29 March 2012 at 08:54

    You never cease to amaze and impress. So much, and all so perfect!

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  6. SmitoniusAndSonata30 March 2012 at 17:43

    I believe the correct term is an Ample Sufficiency .
    Younger Daughter and I will be moving in down the lane at this rate .... our motto being "No leaf left uneaten" .

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  7. chrisartist31 March 2012 at 14:06

    Looks wonderful. Your friends are very fortunate.
    A bag of salad greens costs around 2pounds here in Australia.
    Our season of summer vegetables has come to an end.
    Il be planting broccoli tomorrow.
    Chris

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I am sorry to have to add word verification thing again but I keep getting spammed.

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